1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sampling and identifying apparatus and, more particularly, to such apparatus for sampling and identifying microorganisms.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, pathogenic microorganisms in the throat of a patient have been found and identified in a laborious and time-consuming manner. That is, a patient's tongue is depressed by a tongue depressor stick whereupon a swab is inserted into the mouth and the area appearing infected is swabbed. The swab is placed into some type of transport media to be taken to a microbiological laboratory whereupon the swab is streaked upon blood agar. On the blood agar, a laboratory technologist or microbiologist places a disc containing an antibiotic called bacitracin which inhibits the growth of Beta-hemolytic Streptococcus group A which can be the cause of Strep throat, Rhuematic fever and, in some cases, glomerulonephritis. The sample is incubated for twenty-four hours whereupon, if there are hemolytic colonies, i.e. clear zones inside the inoculated blood agar, these would be identified as Beta-hemolytic Streptococcus group A if they were inhibited from growing by the bacitracin disc. If, however, the hemolytic colonies did not appear to be close enough to the bacitracin disc, the hemolytic colony or colonies would have to be reinoculated onto another blood agar media and the procedure with the bacitracin disc started all over again.
On the other hand, if there were hemolytic colonies not inhibited by the disc, but growing in close proximity to it, the microbiologist would then have to identify the organisms as either (A) another group of Streptococci (not inhibited by bacitracin, not grown on mannitol salt agar, not positive when grown on bile esculin agar), or (B) Staphlococcus (not inhibited by bacitracin, will grow on mannitol salt agar, and not positive when grown or tempted to be grown on bile esculin agar), or (C) Enterococcus (not inhibited by bacitracin, will not grow on 6.5% mannitol salt agar, but positive when grown on bile esculin agar).
All of the above is very time consuming, exposes the analyst to infection and, due to the manner of obtaining the culture on the initial swab, which may touch other portions of the mouth or which may pick up other infectious organisms during transport to the laboratory, produces possibly inaccurate results.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,205,151 to W. L. Landau et al, entitled "Inoculation Device and Method", a stack of containers, each containing a test medium, are aligned with each other and an inoculating needle is initially threaded through all of the containers and test media with the point projecting beyond the end of the stack. The point of the inoculating needle is dipped into a colony which has already been isolated onto a solid media. The inoculating needle is drawn through the stack of containers to leave a trace of the colony in each container whereupon the colony is identified by growth characteristics in the different test media in the stack of containers. The Landau et al device could not be used to obtain a sample from an infected area of a patient's throat and could not be used to show the presence of specific organisms among the many that are present. Cross contamination would make these stacked containers produce inaccurate reactions. The Landau et al device requires that the swab sample be initially streaked on solid media and the colonies grown through incubation for twenty-four hours. The Landau et al device is then used to further identify a specific colony within the multiplicity of colonies. The incubation period prior to use of the Landau et al device takes up to twenty-four hours, during which time the nature of the patient's infection remains undiagnosed. The Landau et al device further provides that the inoculating needle be disposed of after it has been used to draw the colony through the stack of containers. The inoculating needle can form a source of infection to the persons using the apparatus.